Jaguar
has gone from strength to strength with a huge increase in worldwide
sales re-writing the company’s record books.

SUCCESS STORY: THE
JAGUAR S-TYPE

In
the first five months of this year the Coventry firm sold 40,000 cars
– an 80 per cent increase on the same period last year.

The
S-Type has been the main driving force behind the success story,
accounting for more than 25,000 of these sales. Since its launch in
spring 1999, the S-Type has notched up over 64,000 sales.

In
the United States, Jaguar’s biggest single market, 18,662 cars were
sold in the period from January to May – double the number recorded
in the same time last year. Of these figures the S-Type accounted for
over 11,000.

Managing
Director Jonathan Browning said:

“This
is an outstanding start to the new millennium. During the first five
months of the year our sales increased in virtually every one of the
sixty-plus markets where we sell Jaguar cars.”

One
of the biggest areas of growth is Italy, where sales increased by 178
per cent.

2,000
Jaguars were sold in the country, with 1,675 of them being S-Types.

Major
gains were reported in every market on the continent.

Sales
in Spain doubled to 1,011 cars, in Belgium they rose by 180 per cent
to 917 cars and in France they doubled to 1,026.

Figures
shot up in Greece from 25 to 120 cars – a 380 per cent increase.

And
in smaller markets such as Morocco, even larger gains were recorded.
Just three cars were sold there in the first five months of 1999 – a
figure which rose to 39 this year.

And
in the United Kingdom, where market conditions were toughest, sales
increased by 28 per cent to 6,769 cars. The S-Type accounted for
nearly 2,000 of these.

Mr
Browning added:

“Jaguar
is now selling more cars in more places around the world than at any
time in its 77 year history.”